Cats in First Through 36 Holes

MILLBRAE, Calif. – With four players in the top 20, the 30th-ranked Kansas State women's golf team holds the 36-hole lead at the Silicon Valley Showcase following play on Monday at the par-71, 6,084-yard Green Hills Country Club.

K-State is at even-par 568 – one stroke ahead of 42nd-ranked Pepperdine and 14 shots ahead of the third-place team Santa Clara – on a difficult layout that is playing a collective 3.32 shots over par and has surrendered only 10 scores among the 51-player field that are currently under par.

Following a score of 5-over par 289 in the morning, the Wildcats took sole possession of first place and are in contention for their third victory this season thanks to a 5-under par 279 second-round score. It tied for the ninth lowest team round in school history, the sixth lowest this season and the third lowest in the three-year history of the Silicon Valley Showcase.

Seniors Carla Bernat and Sophie Bert pace the Wildcats as they reside in the top 10, while the team's afternoon score was powered by junior Noa van Beek, who flew up the leaderboard with a collegiate career low round.

"There was a lot of really good golf played today on a challenging course," head coach Stew Burke said. "We got some bad breaks in the morning but handled them really well and stayed on task. There wasn't much difference in the play between the rounds, so it was nice to see an under-par finish this afternoon. Noa and Carla came up with big rounds to go along with Sophie's morning effort. There's a lot of golf left in this event, and I'm looking forward to watching the ladies compete under pressure tomorrow. This experience will serve us well – regardless of the result – as we move into the postseason, but we want to finish strong."

Bert, a native of Deurle, Belgium, carded a 2-under par 69 in the morning, a career-best sixth round in the 60s this season that was highlighted by a 2-under par back 9. She came back with an even-par scorecard in the afternoon as the East Tennessee State transfer is two shots off the lead at 2-under par 140 and eyes her second top-five finish of the season.

A product of Castellon, Spain, Bernat carded a 1-over par 72 in the morning before coming back with her 12th round in the 60s this season at 2-under par 69, which included a 2-under par front 9. She is one shot back of Bert and in a tie for seventh place at 1-under par 141.

van Beek was the biggest riser from the morning to the afternoon, improving 21 spots on the leaderboard and slashing 10 strokes off her first-round score with a tally of 4-under par 67. The Oene, Netherlands native, who went bogey-free and 3-under par on the back 9 thanks to birdies on three-straight holes, fired a new collegiate low round, one shot better than the 68 she produced during the second round of the Schooner Fall Classic in September. She enters Tuesday's final round in a tie for 12th place at 2-over par 144.

Sophomore Alenka Navarro is also in the top 20 as she is tied for 18th place at 4-over par 146, which included a 1-over par round in the afternoon. Freshman Nanami Nakashima is at 7-over par 149 and tied for 27th place.

Pepperdine's Lauren Gomez enters the final round with a one-shot lead over San Francisco's Yu Shang at 4-under par 138.

The final round of the Silicon Valley Showcase begins with an 8:30 a.m. (PT) shotgun start on Tuesday as the Wildcats are paired with Pepperdine and Santa Clara. Live results can be followed on Golfstat.

– k-statesports.com –

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Women's Golf, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Carla Bernat

Sophie Bert

Nanami Nakashima

Alenka Navarro

Noa van Beek

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